Lateral filing cabinet with rotary drawers

Abstract

A lateral file construction which includes a stationary case open on one side and one or more drawers in the form of elongated open top boxes. The drawers are pivotally mounted to the case on trasverse axes parallel to the long side of the drawer as viewed from above. The drawers are opened and closed by rotating about said axes. The drawers may be interconnected by linkage or other means such that some or all of them open and close simultaneously.

Having thus described my invention and its objectives, I claim: 
     
       1. A lateral file construction comprising: a stationary case having a bottom wall, a top wall, a rear wall, a pair of opposed side walls, and a substantially open front, said case further forming a generally rectangular parallelopiped having a height, a width from side wall to side wall, and a depth from front to rear;   a plurality of drawers, each in the form of an elongated rectangular parallelopiped having an open top, a pair of opposed end walls, a bottom wall, a front wall, and a rear wall, each of said drawers further having a height, a length, and a depth;   means for pivotally supporting each of said drawers between each of said opposed end walls and the respectively adjacent opposed side walls of said case such that said plurality of drawers are disposed in a generally vertical spaced array, the length of each drawer extending within the width of the case, at least one of said means for pivotally supporting said drawers being mechanized by a pair of coaxial pivot shafts respectively journalled between the opposed end walls of said drawer and the respectively adjacent one of said opposed side walls of said case, said at least one pair of pivot axes being substantially displaced from a centroid of said opposed end walls of said rectangular parallelopiped forming said drawer;   means for limiting said pivoting of each of said drawers to an arc between a first or closed position, whereat said open top of each drawer forms an imaginary plane oriented to be downwardly sloping toward said rear wall of said case, and a second or open position, whereat each said imaginary plane is sloping generally downwardly toward said substantially open front of said case, said slopes of said imaginary planes associated with the open tops of the respective drawers, when in said second positions, being at respectively differing angles each sufficient to provide clear access to and view of the contents of each drawer from a single vantage position and elevation of a user in front of said case; and   means for coupling the pivoting motions of said drawers such that all drawers may be concurrently pivoted from their respective closed positions to their respective open positions, and vice versa, by manually pivoting any one of the drawers between said positions.   
     
     
       2. The lateral file construction of claim 1, wherein said means for coupling the pivoting motions of said drawers comprises a plurality of link elements respectively pivotally coupled between at least one end wall of a drawer and the corresponding end wall of the next vertically adjacent drawer. 
     
     
       3. A lateral file construction comprising: a stationary case having a bottom wall, a top wall, a rear wall, a pair of opposed side walls, and a substantially open front, said case further forming a generally rectangular parallelopiped having a height, a width from side wall to side wall, and a depth from front to rear;   a plurality of drawers, each in the form of an elongated rectangular parallelopiped having an open top, a pair of opposed end walls, a bottom wall, a front wall, and a rear wall, each of said drawers further having a height, a length, and a depth;   means for pivotally supporting each of said drawers between each of said opposed end walls and the respectively adjacent opposed side walls of said case such that said plurality of drawers are disposed in a generally vertical spaced array, the length of each drawer extending within the width of the case, at least one of said means for pivotally supporting said drawers being mechanized by a pair of coaxial pivot shafts respectively journalled between the opposed end walls of said drawer and the respectively adjacent one of said opposed side walls of said case, said at least one pair of pivot axes being substantially displaced from a centroid of said opposed end walls of said rectangular parallelopiped forming said drawer;   means for limiting said pivoting of each of said drawers to an arc between a first or closed position, whereat said open top of each drawer forms an imaginary plane oriented to be downwardly sloping toward said rear wall of said case, and a second or open position, whereat each said imaginary plane is sloping generally downwardly toward said substantially open front of said case, said slopes of said imaginary planes associated with the open tops of the drawers, when in said second positions, being sufficient to provide clear access to and view of the contents of each drawer from a single vantage position and elevation of a user in front of said case; and   a plurality of link elements respectively pivotally coupled between at least one end wall of a drawer and the corresponding end wall of the next vertically adjacent drawer, said link elements being generally of differing lengths pivotally coupled to the respective end walls of the drawers at axes displaced from the geometric centroids of said end walls of said rectangular parallelopipeds forming said drawers, whereby, in said second positions of each drawer, the open top imaginary planes of the several drawers concurrently assume respectively differing angles of slope with respect to the front of the case.   
     
     
       4. The lateral file construction of claim 3, wherein said means for limiting said pivoting of each of said drawers in said first or closed position comprises flanges affixed to said front walls of said drawers so as to extend upwardly therefrom to engagably contact the front surface of the drawer immediately thereabove, with the flange of the uppermost drawer engagably contacting a flange extending along the width of an inner surface of said top wall of said case, said drawers thereby being substantially fully enclosed by said case and the front walls of said drawers.